Battery of cars is heading Napier's way

Aucklander Steve West charging his electric Tesla P85 car during a previous Great EV Road Trip. PHOTO/File

When a fleet of vehicles taking part in a 31-day road trip tour of New Zealand arrive in Napier on Good Friday there will hardly be a sound.

But there will be plenty of power, in the form of electricity.

The fifth annual Great EV Road Trip will see a fleet of electric-powered cars pass through the roads of Hawke's Bay and on Good Friday, at Anderson Park in Greenmeadows between noon and 4pm, they will be on display.

And for locals intrigued and interested in what they are like, there will be some to take a drive in.

The road trip is effectively a nationwide electric vehicle information show which gives people in the 30 centres the vehicles and drivers will call at the opportunity to find out more about EVs.

The road trip is run by the Better NZ Trust and supported by the Energy and Efficiency Conservation Authority.

Better NZ is a charitable trust whose mandate is to create environmental, financial and health benefit for all Kiwis through education and by assisting in the adoption of zero carbon renewable technologies.

The road trip is the biggest event on the trust's calendar.

"It is a fun and easy way for people to find out everything they ever wanted to know about electric vehicles and to get a chance to drive or ride in a variety of electric vehicles for free," Better NZ Trust chairwoman Kathryn Trounson said.

"We love it when people experience an electric vehicle for the first time because their response is typically 'wow that's amazingly quiet and smooth'."

Trounson said the Great EV Road trip was visiting large and small centres across the North and South Islands and had extended its reach into a number of previously unvisited smaller towns this time because greatly improved battery storage technology, coupled with an increasingly expanding nationwide charging network, meant that electric vehicles could now go anywhere in the country.

Five years ago only three places in New Zealand, Auckland, Whangārei and Wellsford, had chargers.

Since then they have sprung up everywhere, and Hawke's Bay is one of the regions to have now installed a string of the new generation charging machines.

Better NZ Trust embraces a "six good reasons" approach to using electric vehicles.

(1) They are better for the environment and economy.

(2) EVs save money and are increasingly affordable.

(3) They are a pleasure to own and drive.

(4) EVs have better performance than internal combustion engine vehicles.

(5) Range is much less an issue today as an extensive, and growing, public charging network is available nationwide.

(6) The choice of EVs is growing all the time (there are now more than 12,000 registered on New Zealand roads).

Locals can now make their own conclusions.

The Great EV Road Trip information show.
Anderson Park, Greenmeadows.
Good Friday (April 19)
Noon to 4pm